watching the j1s playing floorball reminds me of myself not long ago. trying to handle the stick, much less the ball, totally shocked and amazed by the air hook, astonished by how the j2s are able to play so well. quiet around the j2s as i didnt know them well, respected the defenders afiq leon zul and danial, aimed to be at least near their standards. got to know our capt and vice capt glendon and lionel, glendon earnest to learn and lionel full of jokes. it was so fun.got to know the j2 team better in kl, went through so much with them in the adiv. beating rj 5-2 after being 2-0 down, beating vj 7-3, mi 5-2, nj 12-0, ij 8-0, and yj 6-1. so modest we were, aiming just to win every match. strong mentality, play for the team. marvelous and unforgettable experience. never forgot what leon and afiq taught me, and thank mak for trusting me to handle the ball even though im j1. unknowingly we understood how each other played, made little mistakes as i was a j1 and wanted to make full use of my time on court. tried my best every time im on the court, afraid to make mistakes. stayed everyday after training to work on my shots and passes, tried hard to improve my technique. learnt many things, no ball watching, sweeping, stick down to cut passes, 3v2, 2v1, dragging the ball to shoot, and so much more.
den was the j1 chalet, where i got to know the floorballers better. started to get to know the names of the gals, had lotsa fun. still remeber my first impression of the girls, as ppl who do not concentrate on training as i saw during pt. but as i got to know them, my impression changed. they were very willing to learn, and improve themselves. some even came over to ask the guys for tips and advice, which i think was the right attitude. den played a few games wif the gals, realised they are actually very good, and we are not that good. played many friendly games, spoiled the lightbulb at valhall, got hit many times by opponents' sticks, never wanted revenge. obsessed about air hook, discouraged by a few ppl to forget it, i'll nv make it and so on. friends dropped off the team slowly, though sad but all was for the team, and we still kept in touch. bought a new stick from mak, and even got an air hook blade. always afraid to try during training, but ms seah never discouraged me from playing with it and sometime later i started using it during training and she never stopped me from using it. but i myself know very well air hooking could not win the game. basics are still the most important, did basic dribbling at home quite often, worked on simple shots. though i learnt the slap shot quite early in the year, couldn make full use of it, and now i think my simple shots are far better den it. eager to improve, as adivs approached i was anxious to get myself into top condition. slowly became more confident in myself, played calm during most games, seeked advice from ms seah, lionel and glendon.
persuaded by brown to join zarf, 2nd in div 1, lost only to a goal difference of 4. good players they had, most i could never match up to. crazy ball control, crazy shots. a wonderful coach who always encouraged me. though i felt very inferior, that was the good part of it. being inferior, every pass made has to be safe, afraid to cause any goals for the team and to be despised by the team.brown always said i was playing well, but i always knew it was to encourage me not to give up. a very good experience, got to know a few friends, had alot of fun. ms seah even told me it was ok to skip school training to go zarf training. but being there its as if im supposed to be that skillful, and it was all tactical stuff. but obviously im NOT that skillful and i rather go for school training to work on my basics. gained alot from playing in div 1, and put most of it to good use(at least i think i did).
went through many changes in my partners, from desmond to ting xuan to zhen yuan to adib to zai. believed harold should partner shyanglong to play along in my line, but ms seah chose alvin and i believed in her decision. as we became more serious, realised something's realli wrong wif our line, always kena owned by glendon's line, seldom had chances to attack. individually skilled we maybe, we had almost no teamwork. i never looked to my partner, and always held onto the ball. but playing with adib made me realise i could never do it on my own no matter how good i think i am. changed partner to zai, and though we have known each other for so many years, our playing styles just couldnt match.neither could shyang long and alvin, and the forwards and defenders as a whole.
before we were fully prepared, adivs were already here. quite a few ppl screwed up during the opening matches, and changes had to be made to improve the team play. distrust(no full confidence) among teammates, always goal hungry. individual goals, and almost no team goals at all. a few there maybe, but i definitely believed team goals should be the majority. depended too much on glendon, always screw up in our half but our keepers never gave up the faith they had in us.distracted by the little things, complacency soon took over, or perhaps developed even deeper into our minds, slowly manifesting inside and creating a split path away from our common goal. not enough team play, too much of solo work, hungry to be famous.as our goal difference started decreasing, it signalled our fall. to the semis, we could not handle the stress put on by the physical play by the opponents. always tried my best to win the ball in our half, and gave it all to shield the ball from opponents and play it up. again, there is distrust. to be honest, i had little confidence in my line. its like a vicious cycle. ball goes up, defender supports. ball is lost, defender runs back. so now defender does not run up, forwards lack support, and lose the ball. defender supports, the ball is still lost. its never ending. both parties at fault, again the understanding is missing from the team. defenders work alone and so do the forwards. eveyone plays their own game, and i have to admit sometimes im guilty of that too. solo play. but some players have to be given credit, such as calvin, who never does fancy tricks or anything stupid to put our goal in danger. always playing safe and trying his best. harold is another fired up dude, who has been running non-stop just to win the ball. willing to learn, he started shifting from his solo play and even plays back to the defender which he never does when i play soccer with him. glendon, even though he can score a lot more goals, he always passes it to winston who has the better chance to score. winston never stops trying, always able to shield the ball in the opponents' half. the perfect partner for glendon, always looking for chances to score. well done to these few.
another thing is that some of us were over concerned about the 'best 6 floorballers in adiv'. to me it was like a side event, something new to look out for even after adivs end. but some ppl are too concerned about it that it may have distracted our play. that may not be the case but its seriously retarded. like sl said, he rather exchange all his votes for the championship. now that we lost the title, whats the point in it. down to the last minute in the semis, we ended up depending on glendon to bring us to the finals, but that was the end of our luck. fire in us was still burning, but it was nothing compared to our opponents. they wanted the ball more than us. though they may have a few dirty plays, but anyone from the outside can see they were playing better.finally lost, all hopes dashed. never felt like this before, but its all over.
overwhelmed by emotions, disappointed in myself, hated myself for letting down the ppl who have always supported and believed in us. it was not the loss.it was the the number of ppl whom i've let down. mr chua, ms seah, ms lee, our very supportive friends, and our girls team. though we may not be able to hear them cheer in the game, as i watched the video replays it becomes visible-they were screaming for us, never gave up on us for even a second. screaming to fight on when we were down, screaming in joy when we fought back, jumping or clapping for us every second on the spectators stand. did the guys team do that? ok we are guys and we dont scream or jump but most of us were just sitting around watching the game instead of cheering for them. and ms seah, who has put in so much effort to teach and coach me, even asked me to go for zarf training instead of school training so that i would become better. even though we were down, she never gave up on us and had absolute confidence that we'll be back up. though she herself maybe panicking she never shows it and is always calm, so that we ourselves will not panic. after our loss she felt sad but never showed it to us, smiling at us as though it was nothing. no doubt she is the best coach, mentally strong and always putting us before her. losing and letting her down was what made me feel so fk-ed up.
the girls on the other hand, were not complacent. each and everyone of them did their job well, though there were a few instances of individual play, but still. i believed they worked more as a team and never doubted their teammates.i have never heard words of discouragment among them, and have never seen them unhappy with each other before. the girls team is strong, and they put in their all to defend the championship title.it was a well deserved win for them, no doubt they are the champions.
but the thing i really liked about our team-we were clean.
never have we played dirty, used dirty tricks just to win the ball. there may have been slashes, but in adiv who doesnt slash? even though we were being fouled like mad on the court, whacked by high sticks and no foul given, we never argued with the referees bout their decisions.we just played on.even though we have lost, we did not blame anyone but ourselves for the loss. this graciousness is something you dont see in many teams. nevertheless, wads done is done, and im pretty much looking forward to the testimonial match. and to the j1s, if you are thinking bout learning air hook, think again. i have to agree our batch is talented, but wad do you all think about your batch? its not as if you have glendon or lionel, or some national team player. can you all guarantee that you all will be playing better den us, playing well enough to win back the championship? if you think you can reach our standard, forget it, cuz you need more that that to be champions.so what if you can air hook if you cant score. nice to see, just to see. if you want to learn it, why not devote the time to something else such as perfecting your passes and shots. if you cant even get the basics right, forget about air hooking, you'll just be a disgrace to mj floorball.
thinking back, i have gone through so much in mj floorball,from being a complete noob to what i am today, i owe it all to the team and our coach. all the best to the future batch, our time is over.
now its homework piling up like mad, and makes it so boring to study non stop everyday.zzz. oh well this is life, and the future depends on this next month.
HELL YEAH TO MJ FLOORBALL 08 guys and gals
lol
and i just realised this post is gay long. lol. oh well wadeva.
ciao
